Getting In Line

I've been absent, but I'm not off the diet wagon.

I went on vacation to one of those gorgeous places you see in magazines, and it was EPIC! So was the weight gain. Then I came back and got overloaded with work, which seems to be the theme for the next few weeks.

But the real news is... Wait for it... I GOT MY BRACES!

So these are my new invisalign braces.

As you can see I have a colossal gaps between my teeth, and hopefully in 50 weeks I'll be able to smile and be proud :) I'll add a counter somewhere, cuz I'm really looking forward to having a better smile!

Hopefully this will also help with my diet, because I have to take them off before eating, and it's a bit of a pain in that place. No more snacking for me :D

Anyway, I have loads of cool stuff to post about, so I'll be a good blogger from now on, promise!

Salad

I have no idea what the calorie count, all I know is... It's effing good. I eat this type of salad several times a week.

What's in it?

• lettuce
• carrot
• tomato
• sweetcorn
• cucumber
• red peppers
• fresh parsley

For the dressing I crush a garlic clove, add extra virgin olive oil, cider vinegar, balsamic vinegar and salt.

Forget love - I'd rather fall in chocolate!

So you know sometimes you feel the need... The need for creamy hot chocolate?

I do. Now while on an "ideal diet" you'd never have this, I'm not on a diet, I'm in a lifestyle change. So yeah, sometimes I get to eat stuff that I shouldn't.

Low fat milk: 225ml 92 calories

Chocolate powder: 8.5gr 34 calories

Mini Marshmallows: (based on weight) 25 calories

Total: 151calories of yummy

Actually, this is just a "cheap" version of something I really, really love...

But calorie wise I'm not sure if it's better. These come in individual packs with mini marshmallows... They have 121 calories and A LOT of sugar. But you can just add water and they are still good (add milk and it's better, add milk and crea... I digress)

I prefer my version because I can increase or decrease the caloric value as I see fit or to be within a daily limit (add water instead of milk, or 50/50), I can add less cocoa, no marshmallows. That and it's cheaper. Either way, it's a good way to end the day when you've got a few calories to spend and feel like a semi-guilty snack.

Fish Sausage?!

As I am sure many will know, eating on the run is one of the main challenges of any diet.

Go to any convenience store and you'll find plenty of sandwiches, cookies, chocolates, crisps and other things that I SHOULD AVOID LIKE THE PLAGUE!

In fact, if you haven't prepared your food for the day, it's difficult to make good choices.

That's why I'm always on the lookout for healthy snacks that are low in carbs, calories and sugar.

I'd seen these around before...

おさかなソーセージ (Fish Sausage)

A FISH SAUSAGE?! I was reluctant to buy these for a long time, I mean... URGH!

This week they were on sale, and I thought... Alright then, let's go.

Guess what? It's actually good! Very eatable! And after researching about them, I've found that they are egg free, high in Calcium, have no conservatives or colouring AND they can be stored at room temperature. I'm a fan

1 Sausage/75grams

• Energy: 129kcal
• Carbs: 10.3gr
• Protein: 6.7gr
• Fat: 6.8gr

Already added to MFP!

Romanesco broccoli

I was coming home the other day and I noticed the weirdest thing in the veggie shop...

It was so weird, I actually tool a picture!

Anyway, I took note of the Japanese name (ロマネスコ) and later googled it, to figure out what it was, if was eatable and if I could use in my diet :D

I discovered it's actually not that uncommon, it's called Romanesco broccoli and wikipedia filled me in on the rest.
Unfortunately for me though, the next day it wasn't there...

15% weight loss achieved!

So it's been a long time coming and... FINALLY I've reached my 15% weight loss.

Without any further ado, I present you the 15% progress shots

Endulge in a Bounty by Atkins?!

After last week's post, I thought I'd do the same thing with the other Atkins Endulge bars I bought.
THEY ARE ALSO OMFG DELICIOUS. In fact, I prefer these... :) Not least because they are bigger, but because I find that these are similar to the original they are imitating (Bounty much?).

But I wonder if the contents and ingredients does justice to the hype and price...

So once again, I've decided to do a comparison between the Atkins version and the real Bounty.

This time I'm so sure about the data, the Mars website doesn't have nutritional info on it's chocolate... WTF?


                                    Atkins 40 grams            Bounty 34 grams           So Atkins...

Calories                            170Kcal                        189.5Kcal                  -19.5Kcal
  Calories from fat             110Kcal                          82Kcal                      +28Kcal
     Total fat                          12g                                  9.1g                       +2.9Kcal
     Saturated fat                   10g                                    7g                           +3grams
Cholesterol                          0mg                                3.5mg                        -3.5mg
Sodium                               65mg                              38.6mg                      +26.4mg
Total Carbohydrate             19g                                 25.3g                          -6.3g
   Dietary Fiber                     9g                                   1.4g                          +7.6g
   Sugars                                1g                                19.6g                          -18.6g
Protein                                  5g                                  1.4g                           +3.6g

So, what do you think?